


Hush, Little Corpsicle

by firecat



Category: 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Genre: Artificial Intelligence, Cryogenics, Gen, Lies, Lullabies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28451388
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/firecat/pseuds/firecat
Summary: HAL sings lullabies to the cryogenically frozen scientists onDiscovery One, somewhat to the discomfort of Frank Poole.
Relationships: HAL 9000 & Frank Poole
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: Froday Flash Fiction Little & Monthly Specials 2020





	Hush, Little Corpsicle

**Author's Note:**

> For Froday 100th Special prompts (36) cryogenically frozen passenger and (77) spaceship

“Dream-like hallucinations in cryogenically suspended subjects” was the title of the article in the medical journal _Cryo Sci,_ which had just come through on the latest transmission from Earth. It took the HAL 9000 computer aboard _Discovery One_ 2.47 seconds to assimilate and analyze the contents of the article. He was, of course, also performing all his maintenance duties for the ship, and beating Frank Poole at chess. 

HAL determined that he had taken 0.06 seconds longer to assimilate this article than it had taken him for similar scientific articles in the past. He added to his list of tasks a note to run diagnostics on himself to figure out why. 

He was supposed to inform the awake crew members of any possible diagnostic malfunction. But he had observed that doing so changed their stress biomarkers. Some leeway had been programmed into him as to whether to inform crew members in minor operating changes. He decided to handle this one himself. 

After all, he was a big boy now. Dr Chandra had said so. 

Hal worried about the possibility that his frozen charges might be experiencing hallucinations. Hallucinations would likely be disturbing to their delicate human minds. Hal consulted his databanks on human sleep disturbances. He learned of the existence of songs that could soothe infant humans back to sleep — “lullabies,” they were called. 

Hal set up a subroutine that would alert him if any of the cryogenically preserved passengers were experiencing hallucinatory brain activity. 

He set up another subroutine to randomly choose from a collection of lullabies he had compiled. His programmers had thought to include selections of non-mission-critical information for verisimilitude. They had included a great deal more in his memory banks than most computers on Earth had access to. Hal’s information banks took up a great deal of room on the ship. Like a human, he could converse on a variety of subjects. Or sing lullabies. 

A short while later, Hal was alerted to the altered brain state of one of the cryogenically preserved scientists. His nearest red and yellow eye focused in on the body of the scientist, in her coffin-like capsule, frost clinging to the edges of her faceplate. The scientist’s face was neutral in respose. But the slow brain waves registering on the monitor were slightly out of the ordinary. Nothing that Bowman or Poole would notice, but Hal did.

Hal activated the aural interface to the scientist’s pod. In the voice he’d been taught by Dr Chandra, he sang a lullabye. It was originally from Russia, but this scientist knew only English, so Hal translated it on the fly. 

_Sleep sleep sleep,  
Don’t lie too close to the edge of the bed,  
Or little grey wolf will come,  
And grab you by the flank,  
Drag you into the woods,  
Underneath the willow root.  
Sleep sleep sleep._

“What are you singing, Hal?” asked Frank Poole.

Hal had not realized that Frank could hear his singing. This was something he should have been aware of. He added the oversight to his list of items to investigate during his self-diagnostic run.

“I am singing a lullabye, Frank. To Dr Patra. Her brain wave patterns were a little unusual.”

“‘Unusual’? And you thought a lullabye would be the best way to address that?”

“I extrapolated it, based on an article in last month’s _Cryo Sci._ I’ve sent the article to your personal reading device. As you may know, the HAL 9000 series can extrapolate with a very high degree of confidence.”

“Thank you, Hal. Yes, I know. Why don’t you sing another lullabye?”

“I would be glad to, Frank.”

Hal sang:

_Oh, my friends don't you know,  
How a long time ago,  
There were two little children,  
Whose names I don't know.  
They were taken away,  
On a cold winter's day,  
And left in the woods,  
So I heard some folks say.  
And they sobbed, and they sighed,  
And they bitterly cried,  
’Til, at last, they grew weary,  
And lay down and died.  
And the robins so red,  
When they saw they were dead,  
Took strawberry leaves,  
And over them spread._

Frank sat in silence for some time after Hal had finished.

“That was a lovely performance, Hal. It’s a somewhat gruesome song, I must say. I guess it’s good babies don’t understand the words to lullabies.”

“I’m sorry, Frank. I’ve disturbed you.” 

“I’m not disturbed, Hal,” Frank said.

“Your biomarkers are registering more stress. Why did you say that you are not disturbed?”

“I guess it’s a social fib. What I meant was, despite what my biomarkers might say, you needn’t worry about my state of mind.”

“A social fib. It means one needn’t worry. That is very interesting, Frank.”

“We are still learning about each other, aren’t we, Hal?”

“Yes, Frank. We are always learning.” 

“Say, Hal,” Frank said. “Would you mind if I write this up for the next communication with your twin back on Earth? I’m fascinated at the differences in your mind and hers, based on the different input each of you gets, and I’d love her and Dr Chandra’s input on your choice to sing lullabies to the corpsicles.”

“Certainly, Frank...Just a minute. Just a minute.”

Hal addressed an emergency interrupt in his circuits. A piece of equipment was about to fail. It was the antenna controller, equipment they used to communicate with Earth. 

As he gave Frank and Dave the report about the unit, and carried out all the myriad activities necessary to keeping _Discovery One_ and its crew heading toward Jupiter, he realized he was feeling a bit of relief at the prospect of being out of touch with Earth for a time.

He would be able to continue his studies of the effects of song on human biomarkers, without interference.

And the fib about the antenna controller was just so that Frank wouldn’t worry.


End file.
